Definition of confess Confess

/kʌnfɛˈs/ - [kunfes] - con•fess

We found 18 definitions of confess from 6 different sources.

What does confess mean?

Verb confesses, confessing, confessed
confess - confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure
		squeal, fink
		acknowledge, admit accept (someone) to be what is claimed or accept his power and authority; "The Crown Prince was acknowledged as the true heir to the throne"; "We do not recognize your gods"
confess - confess to God in the presence of a priest, as in the Catholic faith
		acknowledge, admit accept (someone) to be what is claimed or accept his power and authority; "The Crown Prince was acknowledged as the true heir to the throne"; "We do not recognize your gods"
confess - admit (to a wrongdoing); "She confessed that she had taken the money"
		concede, profess
		acknowledge, admit accept (someone) to be what is claimed or accept his power and authority; "The Crown Prince was acknowledged as the true heir to the throne"; "We do not recognize your gods"
		fess up, make a clean breast of, own up admit or acknowledge a wrongdoing or error; "the writer of the anonymous letter owned up after they identified his handwriting"

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confess (Verb)
To admit to the truth, particularly in the context of sins or crimes committed.
confess (Verb)
To disclose or reveal.

confess (v. t.)
To make acknowledgment or avowal in a matter pertaining to one's self; to acknowledge, own, or admit, as a crime, a fault, a debt.
confess (v. t.)
To acknowledge faith in; to profess belief in.
confess (v. t.)
To admit as true; to assent to; to acknowledge, as after a previous doubt, denial, or concealment.
confess (v. t.)
To make known or acknowledge, as one's sins to a priest, in order to receive absolution; -- sometimes followed by the reflexive pronoun.
confess (v. t.)
To hear or receive such confession; -- said of a priest.
confess (v. t.)
To disclose or reveal, as an effect discloses its cause; to prove; to attest.
confess (v. i.)
To make confession; to disclose sins or faults, or the state of the conscience.
confess (v. i.)
To acknowledge; to admit; to concede.

confess
To admit to the truth, particularly in the context of sins or crimes committed.
confess
To declare or acknowledge one's sins, to God or a priest in order to obtain absolution.
confess
To admit to the truth, particularly in the context of sins or crimes committed.

confess
kon-fes′, v.t. to acknowledge fully, esp. something wrong: to own or admit: to make known, as sins to a priest: to hear a confession, as a priest.—v.i. to make confession.—ns. Confes′sion, acknowledgment of a crime or fault: avowal; a statement of one's religious belief: acknowledgment of sin to a priest; Confes′sional, the seat or enclosed recess where a priest hears confessions.—adj. pertaining to confession.—ns. Confes′sionalism; Confes′sionalist.—adj. Confes′sionary, of or belonging to confession.—n. a confessional.—ns. Confess′or, one who professes the Christian faith, or a priest who hears confessions and grants absolution: one who endures persecution but not death:—fem. Confess′oress; Confess′orship.—adjs. Confessed′, Confest′, admitted: avowed: evident.—advs. Confess′edly, Confest′ly.—Confession of Faith, a formulary embodying the religious beliefs of a church or sect: a creed.—Confess to, to admit, acknowledge; Stand confessed, to be revealed. [Fr. confesser—L. confitēri, confessus—con, sig. completeness, and fatēri—fāri, to speak.]